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Join together with fellow FREEPERS to pray for AMERICA: For those in Authority in Government, Family, Military, Business, Healthcare, Education, Churches, and the Media. I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone: for kings and all those in authority that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. ~ 1 Timothy 2:1-2 Religion Forum Threads labeled [Prayer] are closed to debate of any kind.

Tel Beth Shemesh was one of the first biblical sites to be excavated in the Land of Israel. The site is perched on a low hill overlooking the wide Soreq Valley, a main water source crossing lush agricultural land, on the border between the higher Shephelah (foothills) to the west and the Judean Highland to the east. Biblical Beth-Shemesh appears in the Books of Joshua, Judges, 1 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, and 1 and 2 Chronicles—notably as the place where the Philistines returned the briefly captured Ark of the Covenant to the Israelites (1 Samuel 6).In 1856, Edward Robinson...

Religious archaeologists in Israel claim they have discovered the stone on which Ark of Covenant once sat. The biblical claim was made by researchers from Tel Aviv University who found a 3,100-year-old temple near the modern-day town of Beit Shemesh. Religious teachings claim that the Ark contained the Ten Commandments received by Moses on Mount Sinai. They also preach that the Ark rested on a square table and this latest find is being hailed as merging biblical teachings with archaeological evidence. Archaeologists say it is strikingly similar to the mythical 'large stone' described in the First Book of Samuel. It...

Nicolo Marchetti of the University of Bologna is project director of the excavation at Karkemish, a 5,000-year-old city located along the Turkey-Syria border. About one-third of the site lies inside Syria and is off-limits. The site is also very close to Jarablous, a Syrian city that is now ISIS-controlled territory. “Still, we have had no problem at all.…We work in a military area. It is very well protected,” Marchetti told the Associated Press. This year his team has recovered sculptures from the palace of King Katuwa that date to 900 B.C., and a 700 B.C. mosaic floor in the palace...

US First Lady Michelle Obama danced to Bollywood tunes alongside Indian-American children during Diwali celebrations in the East Room of the White House. Michelle got the festivities going in the State Dining Room by lighting the "diya" [a traditional lamp] during the Hindu festival of lights. Welcoming the guests, the US first lady said: "We've celebrated this holiday here at the White House every year since [President] Barack (Obama) took office. And there's a reason why we've done that." She added: "When we say that we want to make the White House the 'people's house,' we mean all people. We...

This is a cut and paste job of mine that I re-edited, for my own personal notes. Allah is a phase of the sun, translation "The Dawn", interpretation: Morning Star or Rising Sun. Allah is the contracted form from Alilah and the transliteral is this: The/god/ascends. The reason for the confusion is because the word "Allah" is borrowed from the Chaldean language. It is not a Aramaic word. More than two thousand years ago the Aramaic word for God was El, and "Elah", which means "The God", reading right to left. Another example is the Chaldean word for (sundown),"Me'al", reading...